


No Cure (At The End of The World)

by KittiniIsJealous



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Alyss is still alive, Gen, Gore, How Do I Tag, Not Canon Compliant, Sorry Not Sorry, Virus, Will wants sleep, he’s not getting it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 12:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14618649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittiniIsJealous/pseuds/KittiniIsJealous
Summary: Strange happenings begin in the places that people ignore.When trouble starts for a local farmer, it’s a Ranger’s job to sort it out.They never knew how bad something so simple could get.ORThe RA virus/ infected AU that I wanted and no one wrote.





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all signed up for gore and that yummy stuff. Might wanna leave if you count on everyone surviving too.  
> ALSO, I am no seasoned fic writer.  
> I’ve wrote few, and posted fewer. This is practically a test run.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spooky happeneings aren’t good for the mind. Especially an overstressed coffee addict like Will Treaty  
> Rip

A calm tune drifted lazily throughout the small cabin that sat alone deep in the woods. It was late afternoon, and the sun already slinking low in the sky, but the low hums of a woman persisted.   
Alyss Mainwaring-Treaty sat draped across a comfortable chair, chewing the end of her hair. Well, scratch that, no a comfortable chair, her comfortable chair. This was a rather special cushioned chair, that Pauline had gifted her once she finished her apprenticeship. 

Alyss has completely moved into Will’s cabin by the time they had been married, so-to-say she had filled the entirety of the little place with her things. It was home, even when Will was off doing Ranger things, and vice verse, it was a relaxing environment. Just as her eyes drifted shut, Ebony let out a sharp, but quiet bark.  
A familiar alert that showed someone was coming down the narrow path to the cabin.

Alyss snapped awake, and pushed into a straight sitting position. She blinked a few times to clear the drowsiness from her mind, and then stood up and walked around the sitting room to the cabin door.   
Ebony was was sniffing curiously at the air, tentatively following Alyss to the door.

She looked questionably at the dog, her curious nature was starting to become worrying.   
“That should be Will coming home now. It shouldn’t be any other person.” Alyss confirmed to herself, more than to Ebony.

Instead of unlatching the door, she crept along the wall into the kitchen, and peeked out the window. It was plenty light enough for her to make out a familiar figure on the path to the cabin, just now trotting into the clearing. Alyss sighed a breath of relief, it was just Will arriving back home with Tug. With peace of mind, she ran to the door, unlocked it, caught her breath, and calmly stepped onto the porch.

As glad as she was to see her husband alive, he didn’t look well at all. As Will drew close, Alyss could see obvious bags under his eyes, and mud coated his clothes, along with another darker substance.

“Will?” Alyss asked tentatively, “Wh- Are you alright?” He sighed deeply, lifting his eyes to meet hers.

“I think so...” Will rubbed his face and cringed.

“Sorry hon, I was- I was going to clean up before I got home but… I just wanted-“ another sigh “to get home.” He blinked a couple of times.

Alyss was concerned now, “It’s fine, it’s fine, Will. Come on, I’ll unsaddle Tug, and you can go around back to get clean.” She cooed.  
Will’s eyes shone slightly, but that was the only emotion she received as he drowsily mumbled an ok.

She watched as he shuffled around the back of the cabin to the wash house. Quickly, Alyss unsaddled Tug and led him into the pen. Even Tug looked concerned about the situation.   
After she was finished, Alyss ran inside to grab clean trousers for Will.

“Is the water warm?” She loudly asked as she approached the back of the cabin.  
The only answer she received was the quick receding of slashing water.

“Here, put these on and come tell me what’s wrong.” Alyss almost demanded at Will.

He complied quietly to his wife’s wishes.  
He looked more relaxed now, but exhaustion was still evident on his face. He hesitated, but got the words out quickly enough.

“What happened is something that I cannot explain myself. It was so-“ He pauses but soon continued.

“-So unnatural, that I’m still shocked.”

Alyss looked at him carefully. 

“Alright then, tell me.” She said.

“Alyss- I haven’t spoken to anyone yet.”  
Oh gosh… I- I have to go-” He choked out.  
Will was visibly panicking, his face growing white. 

“Will?”

“It’s deathly important. How could I have- oh gosh” Will mumbled, looking down at his now shaking hands

He blinked. And then he blinked again. Alyss watched her husband with wide eyes.   
“Will… what happened?” She asked, searching to catch his eyes.  
After a long moment, Will looked up.   
They held an unnatural glaze, calm, too calm considering his demeanor just a few seconds ago. 

Alyss stifled a yell as he dropped to the ground, completely unconscious. 

Two Days Ago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ik I’ve rewritten this chapter 3 times now  
> At least IM gIvinG mY aLl :)):):):
> 
> Sorry about Will btw  
> He’ll probably be ok


	2. The Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Farm trips are supposed to be relaxing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a flashback.  
> Contains some gore and creeps.   
> Be advised  
> Pt one of two

Two Nights Ago  
Will Treaty arrived at a run-down farm, surrounded by partially empty, muddy fields.  
The farm was small, and had already must have had a low amount of cattle and goods. This was not a wealthy farmer, but they needed help. 

From what Will could tell, this was a complete mess. The information from the farmer was practically useless, all that the old man could tell him was that the “blasted creature” was big enough to take down a fully grown(but probably skinny) cow, and that it smelt. The farmer said that it had left a lingering smell, a smell described to him as, “rotten, and putrid.”  
It was going to be a long night. Will could tell that much. 

“You want a place to put that horse of yours? Be a real shame if that devil-beast got a hold of it.”

Will paused and looked at shabby farmer with one eyebrow raised in a sardonic gaze.  
“No, I think we’ll be alright.”

“Suit yourself then, Ranger. Not gonna be on me if it’s harmed.”  
The farmer then walked into his house and from what Will could hear, bolted the door. 

“Well he was optimistic, wasn’t he bud?” Will muttered to Tug.  
Tug only pawed the ground impatiently, and eyed Will.  
“Nothing to say?” Will asked his horse: “Well then, I suppose I win this round.”  
Will chuckled to himself.  
Tug only stared warily at his master.

Ignoring his horse’s odd behavior, Will mounted Tug and rode to the edge of the field, hoping to find some clue as to what was ravenging this poor farm. 

Dark soon descended upon the countryside, and Will hadn’t gotten one idea as to what was stealing all this livestock. From the information he’d gotten, this creature came every night, but then why couldn’t he find any tracks.

The only tracks Will had found were what seemed human tracks. They were small, like a child’s. Will decided that perhaps the farmer had children, or maybe local children snuck around to play in the fields. The land was rather open, and had some potential for exploring, so of course that was an option.  
Perhaps… this meant that Will could ask local kids if they had seen anything. From experience, Will had noted that most kids are very observant. They’re always looking for some type of adventure. Maybe, just maybe they had seen some tracks that his superior skills had missed.  
It was worth a shot.

Before completely deciding whether or not to go into the village the next day, Will did decide to talk to the farmer again. He led Tug back to the shabby farmhouse and rapped on the door.  
Will heard a muffled voice ranting angrily and heavy steps from the other side of the door before it opened, a bit of light poured out from a small oil lantern that he carried with him.

“-angers got no respect for my sleep. Got enough work as it is to do.” The farmer grumbled.  
“You find somethin’ then Ranger?” He asked Will.

Will replied tiredly, “Sir with all due respect, I’m trying to deal with your problem the best I can , and right now, I need to ask you some questions.”  
The farmer still grumbled and whined but opened the door a bit wider. 

“What’s the issue then?”

Will signed and began, “Well, to start I was wondering if you had any children running around here… but now I’m pretty sure none of them would be yours.” 

The farmer eyed him, “Course I ain’t got no kids. Never married, never got the little devils.”

“Ah, so then are you aware that there are a child’s footprints in the mud by the edge of your eastern field?” Will questioned.

The farmer looked oddly taken aback. Confusion crossed his face, with then turned quickly into skepticism.

“You don’t think they got anything to do with my cattle getting slaughtered, do ya?” 

“Not a clue, but I’m going to go into the nearest village tomorrow morning and-“ Will was stopped mid-sentence by a look on the farmers face.  
He looked angry, and before Will could do anything, the farmer had pushed past him and yelled. 

“Hey! HeY YOU! YOU THE LITTLE THAT'S BEEN SLAUGHTERING MY COWS!?”

Will had no clue what he was doing until he turned around. The farmer was advancing alarmingly fast toward a short, thin figure standing about ten yards away. From what Will could distinguish from the skinny frame, was that it was just a young kid. Their face was covered by the looming shadows of high. Will could tell from that far always that some ingenious a seeing with this kid.

He didn’t know how to explain it, but the longer he stood and stared at the child, the more unnerved he felt by his view. The kid stood slouched, swaying on his feet. His hair looked to be a wet mess, and his oversized tunic was torn and bloodied. He looked… confused, as if he didn’t expect to see the farmer approach him.  
The darkness that surrounded him didn’t help. It simply added the the ominicity of the situation.

Will continued to stare, until the farmer stopped moving. He was about halfway between the child and Will. 

“He-ey! Wha- what’s wrong with you? What are you doing in my fields in the dead o’ night?”  
The farmer stuttered. He felt it too, something was wrong. Something was very wrong. The farmer turned back toward the speechless Ranger, and looked at him troublingly.

The child titled his head slightly, and made a choking-gagging noise. A wet, strangled sound was all but torn from his throat. Will could see a darker substance drip from the child’s mouth. That was blood. A whole mouthful of blood flowed from this tiny child’s gaping mouth, as he just stood there, shaking.

“O-oh, o-h no. You-you need to-...” 

Will tried to motion at the farmer to come back to him. In any normal circumstance, Will would have already had the child in his arms checking him over for injuries, but this, this was different.  
Maybe it was the deathly pale skin, maybe the amount of blood, or even pure shock that kept Will rooted in place. He didn’t dare move. The scene was too horrible. 

As soon as the child began to writhe and shake, the farmer just stared. He was transfixed with the horrific sight unfolding in front of him.

“G-get over here.” Will stated weakly.

The farmer wasn’t listening. He just stared, and that kid… that kid just stood there, bleeding.  
Until...  
The child took a step forward.  
And then another.

At the exact moment, a scream of terror was ripped from the throat of the farmer, as the ‘child’ burst into motion. It staggered at such an unexpectedly fast, malicious pace toward the farmer. He dropped the tiny oil lantern he had been holding and it shattered on the ground. The child pounced.

Will stared at it, horrified. It didn’t look like a person.  
It wasn’t. It was two people. The child was on top of the farmer, who was thrashing wildly beneath him. The ‘child’ had his head bent close to the other's throat. There was a wet tearing sound, and it’s head came up, and the farmer went suddenly rigid. His legs juddered, heels tapping spasmodically against the floor.

The light from the moon finally drew across the child’s face. Or at least what Will thought was a child’s face.  
The things face was covered in tendrils that looked like black veins. They threaded in and out of its skin, running down his neck. The surface of its left eye was patched black as well. The things mouth and chin were red with blood; a flap of muscle and skin hung from his teeth; his face was twisted in a snark of animal savagery. 

It was looking right at Will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original I was going to have this in one chapter but I’ll have to split the flashback into two. Sorry! ;)  
> 


	3. The Thing pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little kids are fun, and Will’s in need of mental help.  
> Rest in pepperoni brother

It was looking right at Will.

 

In his entire career as a Ranger, Will had witnessed countless pitiful people. There was always the occasion in which a homeless body would snatch a loaf of bread from a village vendor, or the obvious skinny children running about fiefs in the winter months. It was a fact of life in Arulen, poverty is something that could be limited, but not decimated.

But when Will looked at this child, he didn’t see poverty. No he saw something completely different.  
In this child, there was insanity. Madness crept along its face, a place that it didn’t belong. This expression wasn’t reserved for children.  
It looked almost sad.

The snarling “child” was staring at Will now, completely ignoring the now still figure of the farmer at its feet. The things face hardly made a change in the instant when it’s joints popped in a sickening crack as it took a sharp step toward him. 

It stepped over the farmer, and in a mirror of its movements, Will stepped back. Any step it took towards Will, he mirrored in the opposite direction. He was too shocked to take his eyes of the child for any longer than a second, so he continued- or at least tried to until his feet stumbled back over the front of the porch. 

Will fell, and in a solid opposite reaction, the child pounced.  
The full weight of the lunge knocked his head back onto the wooden planks, where it cracked painfully. Dizidly, Will tried to repel the child off of him with his forearms. The child, as if accustomed to the change in vertigo, held on. This child’s face bore such an inhuman look, there was an unnatural look of malice beneath in the lines of his face. 

The ferocity only lasted a moment, though. In what seemed like one fluid movement, it’s hand gripped his arm, hard, and the child’s face grew frightened. Frightened and innocent. It let out words in a sob, “He-help. Help me, pl-eee-“

Will quickly shoved the child off of him, where the small boy fell back, tears running down his cheeks.  
‘What… in the ever-loving world is wrong with you?’ That’s what Will very much wanted to say, but he couldn’t seem to get the worlds out. 

“What-… What?!” He almost yelled. 

The child blinked, teary eyed. “I Don’t Know.”

Will stared, and looked past the child at the still body of the farmer.  
‘Alright.’ Will thought, ‘Still… dead. Not hallucinating.’

The shock of everything was all but wearing off. In a daze, Will slowly stood, not taking his eyes off the bawling child. He gave the kid a wide berth, and backed all the way over to the side of the house where Tug was cautiously eyeing him. “Watch my back, bud.” Will muttered to his horse, as he turned to dig through the saddlebag for some type of binder. Rope or core, anything to restrain this kid from having another freak fit. 

At one point, the kid must have quit crying. It became all too quiet in the dark. 

Tug hadn’t moved. 

Will had hardly moved.

The crying was silent.

And,

Something was wrong, again. 

Tugs ears twitched, and he nosed Will’s shaking hands away from the saddle pack. His eyes tried to relay some message to Will, something like, ‘Look.’

And look he did.  
Tug was directing Will at possibly the most disturbing image he’d seen all of this horrific night. 

The moon was at the back of a slouched figure, who was peering around the corner of the house. His face might have been shrouded in shadows, but Will knew who it was. The kid was moving again, and as soon as Will discovered him watching, is ducked behind the farmhouse. 

Will hesitated slightly, “Is running after this kid a good idea?” Will muttered as he turned and jogged after the child.  
As soon as he rounded the corner, the child’s figure popped up again, grabbing quickly at Will. He barely had enough time to pull away as the kid’s snarling figure turned, and lunged again. 

This time, Will was ready. 

The child lunged for Will’s neck, but as soon as he got close, Will pushed the kids mouth always from him forcefully. 

He could feel the cold pressure of its teeth against his palm as they pinched the skin of his hand.

He child’s hands still grabbed at him, but it’s momentum was slowed enough for it to fall on its side. As the little body rolled on its knees to sit up, Will kicked kicked its stomach and sent the child sprawling across the lawn. 

“Sorry kid.” He murmured darkly. 

The kid fell hard, his head rebounding with a crack off of a rock.

The child didn’t get back up.

It didn’t move.

 

Will breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully the unconscious kid wouldn’t cause any more trouble.  
Will sat beside the kid catching his breath. He avoided looking at the limp little frame. 

He wasn’t sure if he felt guilty for being so rough with a child.

Will took another look at the kid, bloody face, matted hair, and scoffed shortly.

Never mind his short lived guilt.  
This whole mess has a valid reason.  
Whatever caused the kid to go crazy and act like this was a mystery, maybe it had something to do with this family. 

In a different situation, Will might have drug the kid back to the nearest home.

Not now.

His brain felt fuzzy, he couldn’t think.

He looked at the kid, and then at the still limp body a couple yards away.

The farmer. Right.  
Will had forgotten completely about him.  
Should he bury him? 

No, too much blood, he didn’t want to.

Should he take the kid somewhere?

No, where would he even take him.

What was he going to do, what was-

Will’s frantic thoughts paused. 

‘Wait, what?’ 

Will had walked all the way back around the house to Tug without noticing.  
He spun around quickly, landing back facing his companion. 

“What the-“ Will was almost speechless.

“Gosh, I’m going insane aren’t I?” He spoke aloud.

Tug looked at him wearily. 

‘Looks like it’ he relayed to Will.

“Whatever, boy. Let’s just go home, I’m tired.” Will said, almost cheerfully, as he mounted Tug and led him away from the farm. 

All the way home Tug kept looking at his master.  
Like he was trying to remind him, to communicate something.

He knew there was something else that Will should do, why wasn’t he doing it?

 

Will tiredly rode home. He couldn’t place what he was forgetting. 

Something of importance.

Probably not.

How could he forget something that important, anyways?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long wait for this chap.!  
> I’ve been busy... sort of.  
> Also,  
> I’ve had trouble wrapping this one up, and might change it later. :b


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys... how’s it going? 
> 
> Been a while...
> 
> ANYWAYS  
> TW for gore and other stuff that goes with that

(Previously on “I’m sorry you had to wait so long”)

||| “Will… what happened?” She asked, searching to catch his eyes.  
After a long moment, Will looked up.   
His eyes held an unnatural glaze, calm, too calm considering his demeanor just a few seconds ago. 

Alyss stifled a yell as he dropped to the ground, completely unconscious. |||

 

Alyss was mortified. Seeing her husband so terrified by some prospect, and then passing out would do that to you. What bothered her so much wasn’t particularly that he had passed out. Will did stunts that caused him to stay up for days on end, usually ending in some sort of recoup session of naps that cut well into the day.  
No, what bothered her was how panicky Will had gotten. And especially how dazed he looked. Perhaps he’d simply hit his head, got a concussion. It was still a rather unsettling event.

 

The night was chill on her face when she awoke.   
Alyss tugged the warm covers closer to her, rather easily to say the least, confused by the absence of her usual cover-hogging husband. The right side of the bed was empty, and for a moment, Alyss forgot about the events that occured just a few hours prior. She squinted in the darkness, looking to see if Will was in the room, perhaps he had only just gotten up.   
The cold expanse of sheets where he had had laid said otherwise.

Immediately, her heart jumped to her throat as a low groan emitted from somewhere else in the cabin. Alyss quickly rolled over Will’s discarded side of the bed, and fumbled off, possibly too quickly as she nearly fell to ground as her foot slid on the hardwood.  
Pausing for a second, Alyss knelt to the floor beside the bed, tentatively touching the wooden plank she had slid on.   
Her fingers came back significantly darkened by whatever pooled by her feet.  
Although, she immediately disregarded the mysterious puddle when another, louder groan emitted, followed by a dull thump from another room in the cabin. Alyss frowned, with her heart racing she reached carefully for the drawer where Will stored his saxe. She raced from the bedroom, and into the dark sitting room. 

“Will? Will are you okay?” she called from across the room. The only light in the room was cast with a dying glow, as the fire smoldered out. The curtains were drawn on the other side of the room, causing complete darkness where the fire’s late glow could not reach. 

A soft whimper sounded from the dark corner closest to her.  
Alyss flinched, tightening her grip on the saxe, but her eyes widened momentarily, seemingly realizing that there was no reason she might need to stab her husband.  
Alyss sat the saxe down carefully on a table next her, as she knelt down next to a huddled form in the corner. 

She cooed quietly,   
“Will… honey…”  
“What’s wrong?”

No response reached her ears, so she slowly reached out to her husband. WIll didn’t move, he was already so tensed up. Now that Alyss’s hand was on Will’s shoulder, she could feel slight tremors running through his body. She furrowed her brow and gently shook his shoulder, and as she opened her mouth to speak to him again, Will finally moved.   
Slowly at first, but he gained a bit of momentum, as he unfurled and turned his face toward his wife. 

“-lyss…?” He mumbled 

Alyss let out a sigh of relief, as she carefully grabbed Will’s chin to direct his face into the light of the fire.   
“You worried me honey… What’s wro-” Her sentence trailed off as Will’s face was illuminated by the dim glow.   
It was uncharacteristically pale, and there was a thin layer of sweat across his face. He had his mouth tightly closed, like he was nauseous, but what really caught Alyss’s attention was his eyes. His pupils were dilated, and the white of his eyes were red. 

Then he snarled at her. 

Will’s lips were pulled back to reveal an animal row of teeth, drenched, and dripping with a red-black.   
Alyss sensed movement an instant before it happened. She pulled back quickly, right before his teeth clicked shut on the spot her fingers had been half a second before, and he toppled forward falling half onto his wife.   
Will began struggling to get up again with shaking limbs and clumsy movements. Trying to claw at his wife. Alyss immediately kicked him off of her, a thin shriek escaping her mouth. 

“wILL!?”  
The only answer from him was a gurgling growl. Alyss frantically scrambled away, until her back hit the opposite wall, where she stilled, staring at the still writhing form of Will. He stopped for a moment, and like a child learning to walk, carefully and shakily got onto his feet. He used the table next to him to prop himself up, hands shaking. 

His fumbling hands found the knife still sitting on the table, and easily slipped it into this grip. Now with more familiarity, Will stood.  
His limbs still shook, his head jerking up and down randomly as he examined the sharp blade in his hands. He looked from it, to Alyss, who was frozen mere feet away from him.  
Alyss caught his eyes at that moment, and they were no longer filled with violence. Instead, Will looked frightened. He looked absolutely terrified. For a moment, she saw past his pale complection, and blood smeared face. All she saw was her husband, the man she loved, in incredible disarray.   
“W-Will…” Alyss whimpered. She didn’t know what to say to help him. 

She couldn’t do anything. 

Oh god, she thought.

She couldn’t do anything but watch...

 

She couldn’t do anything but watch as Will flipped the saxe around, the blade sharp against his gut.   
As he plunged the knife into his stomach, he fell to the ground.   
His face turned numbly to face her, pale and lifeless. 

 

Alyss hadn’t realised she was sobbing.   
She didn’t wonder if anyone had heard her. 

She ran from the cabin, as fast as possible. Not even grabbing a cloak as she mounted her horse, and raced to Redmont.

Alyss didn’t stop, not until she got to the gates of the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been working on this since September, which doesn’t mean I’m proud, but I needed to get SOMETHING done. 
> 
> IM SO SORRY ABOUT WILL, IT HURT ME 
> 
> (...but don’t worry... he’ll be back...)


End file.
